Unity theme of FMHS vs. PESH basketball game

When Flower Mound High School faced Plano East Senior High Friday to break a four-way tie for fourth place in District 6-6A in boys varsity basketball, it was amid a sea of yellow.

Both teams were vying for play-off status a week after a photo of signs with “white” and “power” were captured in a Twitter snapshot that hit the news circuit across the country.

But one week later, gone were the black and gold Panthers and the blue and white Jaguars. On this night, students in The Colony gymnasium donned yellow t-shirts that read: “Where there’s unity, there’s victory. PESH-FMHS 2-20-15.”

The t-shirts signified a coming together of both sides after claims of racism swirled across social media.

Both teams, warming up in the unity shirts, gathered at the start of the game to form a unity circle.

Boxes of t-shirts were brought in as students tossed them into the crowds on both sides for students not already wearing them.

At the sound of the first buzzer, both teams were in their regular uniforms ready for action on the court.

The Panthers scored first, taking an early lead that carried them through to win the game 71-41.

Plano East will face Marcus at 2 p.m. Saturday after Marcus won its game against Hebron 66-57 earlier in the evening at The Colony High School.

With district officials standing amid a bevy of reporters on the sidelines and officers from The Colony Police Department both inside and outside of the gymnasium, any remnants from the week prior were absent as chants of “We can’t hear you” echoed from one side to the other.

The game drew a standing-room-only crowd, close to its official 2,000 person capacity, officials said.